Tigran Khzmalyan: “Our Salvation Is in Women’s Hand”

“When men gather somewhere without women, most probably the cause or the consequence is the dispute, hostility, war, and death. When women come together alone without men, most probably the cause or the consequence is mutual help, compassion, childbirth and life … “. This is how the filmmaker Tigran Khzmalyan’s film “Queens of Armenia” begins, revealing the role of women in Armenian history expressing conviction that history has denied  Armenian women and it has also had an impact on our today’s perceptions…

How do Armenian women look like? –  queens or slaves, proud or humiliated, traditional or progressive, self-dependent or subject to … Referring to these issues during a talk with WomenNet.am, Tigran Khzmalyan mentions that he has actually given answers to all these questions in his film ” Queens of Armenia”.

“The greatness of the Armenian woman is not reflected in history,” says Khzmalyan, noting that foreign historians, authors often label Armenian women higher than our own historians …

The film also touches on Zapel Yesayan, Diana Abgar and many other women, who have been neglected in Armenian history pages.

Talking about the role of the Armenian woman in everyday life, Khzmalyan says that in many traditional Armenian families, although the bucket was in the hands of a woman, she was deprived of many rights. Unfortunately, this phenomenon is noticeable today not only in rural but also in urban life and in everyday life. Gentle and obedient women are exposed to violence, humiliation, both by their spouse and by other family members. And the reason is not the absence of dignity in these women, but the presence of fear and shame. The director considers unacceptable a woman’s slavery and obedience.

According to him, today there are many women who are opposed to both policemen and oligarchs. It is the national dignity very often sole bearer of which are women, men are easily handed down, lowering dignity, but women are not inferior.

Full text in Armenian